The present invention relates to the automatic control of drilling and riveting under utilization of a multi-part connecting element, the riveting involving connecting construction parts made of metal and/or fiber-reinforced synthetic such as are used particularly in the manufacture of aircraft.
Known devices for automatic riveting of parts under utilization of multi-part connection elements are usually quite large and bulky on account of a physically closed force path, for example, for deforming a closure ring or sleeve in conjunction with and as one element of a multipart connection element. The inherently large scale of the equipment limits their utilization and, in fact, this automated riveting has not been practiced widely in the aircraft industry for exactly that reason; there just is not enough room and space to fit the equipment in.
German printed patent application No. 26 35 635 describes a device for drilling and riveting of construction parts using single part rivets and a two-part riveting equipment. That equipment is indeed sufficiently small so that it can be used in aircraft manufacture. Here, then, the parts to be riveted are fixed to a carrier, frame or the like, and a tool carrier is provided for movement in two directions on that support frame. In order to obtain drilling and lowering and inserting as well as the forming of the rivet through appropriate tooling, the parts are forced from the side of the tool carrier as well as from the opposite side through holding and counteracting equipment in order to obtain the riveting. A computer control establishes control of the work cycle, including the positioning of the tool carrier as well as of the counter holder on the other side.